[3.1] SRS LL Auramancer in-depth guide

Hi and welcome to my in-depth SRS LL Auramancer build guide! I created this guide for the 2.4. Essence league, and since then it has had several reworks in order to make it even better and more helpful.

Raging Spirits now have a 15% less Added Damage multiplier, up from 30%. - Should be a decent buff.

Witchfire Brew: Now creates a Despair curse aura on use. This affects all versions of the item. - Can be a buff for the 1h+shield setup.

Desecrate: Now creates 5 corpses (up from 3). The cooldown has been reduced to 3 seconds per stack (down from 5), and the cast time has been reduced to 0.8 seconds (down from 1). Desecrate's maximum corpse level now grows more steadily as the skill gem levels up. It can now create higher level corpses at most levels, except level 19 of the gem, in which the maximum corpse level has been lowered from 100 to 81. - A minor QoL.

Your minions (and their minions) will no longer deal or take damage while you are dead. - Not that it did much for us anyway.

Abyss Items & Jewels, we'll have to wait and see if they're useful.

The Hungry Loop: Can be a really nice addition if you want to squeeze in an extra 5L. Maybe Zombie Meatshields if you can find another slot for your stone golem.

3.1. Doesn't seem to change anything for the build, at least not until we know more about how the new unique and rare item looks. The damage has probably been slightly buffed so that's a win after the 3.0. nerfs.

3.1. PoB Links:
+3 Bow: Will be posted on Friday.
1h&Shield: Will be posted on Friday.

3.0. Update

3.0. Update
YES the nerf train has arrived.
The build is still viable.

The big changes that affect the build:

Summon Raging Spirits now deal approximately 15% less damage at all levels.

The Necromancer's Commander of Darkness skill now grants 3% increased Attack and Cast Speed to you and Allies per aura (down from 5%), and 30% increased Damage for you and Allies affected by your Auras (instead of 10% increased Damage for you and Allies per aura).

Energy Shield as a defensive mechanic has undergone a review and, generally speaking, all sources of Energy Shield on items have been reduced by approximately 20%.

Local Added Energy Shield modifiers have been rebalanced at all levels. Early mods grant more energy shield, dropping to 36%-45% less energy shield at the highest tier.

Auras and Curses now gain base radius as they level up, as opposed to increased area of effect.

Removal of Double Dipping

New Support Gems included in the build

3.0. brings major changes to our Energy Shield, the damage potential (in particular the 1h+shield setup), and an increase to boss life. The reduced ES shouldn't make a big difference for the high-end end-game. With great gear you can still reach a good ES level. While this doesn't sound too bad one has to keep in mind that the path there will be significantly harder than before, as you'll need to invest more in gear to get a comfortable level of ES to start mapping with.

The nerf to Commander of Darkness is a big one. It'll reduce the attack & cast speed gained from the builds 8 auras to +43% down from ~90%, and the increased damage is lowered to 30% down from 133% (with the new wording it looks like the 30% isn't affected by aura effectiveness).

With the removal of the double dipping effect the build gained with the UiDs poison, the UiD setup's damage has been nerfed by a lot. The damage is still acceptable (you can still reach a 1m+ dps on shaper) and you should still be able to do most content with it. The 2x increase to boss life is a significant change and if you start of a league with SRS, and doesn't have access to a 20/20 SRS gem, then you might want to consider if it is worth the time to kill the boss. Especially if you haven't swapped to LL yet.

To address the dmg nerf and the increase of boss life I've decided to include Elemental Equilibrium (EE) to the build. If you proc EE with Lightning damage it increases the SRS dmg with almost 50%. You can proc it by using either an item with +lightning to attacks and shield charge/auto attack the boss, or replace the CwDT+IC with Orb of Storms+Desecrate

Below I've imported one of my characters into PoB, changed some of the support gems (and set all the gems to level 21), removed the 20% ES elreon mod on my ring, and EE has been proced with lightning dmg.

This is a build that focuses on fast paced mapping (potentially with magic find gear), either in a party or solo. While it is a great build to solo with, it is in a party that it really shines. Mayhaps it doesn't increase party members damage as much as a pure aurabot does, but since you will deal as much damage as your party members (in many cases you'll deal more damage) it doesn't really matter. If you like you can also carry your party through any reflect map without any issues. With this build I have solo cleared all content of the game (as of 2.5). If you are looking for a build that focuses on solo farming content such as the Shaper, Über Labyrinth, or Über Atziri, then I cannot recommend this build for you; there are better builds for those purposes. But if you are looking for that one build that's great for mapping, and that with practice and gear investment can kill Shaper & Über Atziri, then this is the build for you!

1.0. Introduction

1.1. Pros & Cons

Pros

7-9 Auras! You and your allies will gain tons of damage and utility.

One of the best builds in the game for Mapping (I'm not biased at all).

Can do all map mods (even if no regen is annoying before vaal clarity is up).

Can solo all content as of 2.5.

Great clear speed thanks to buffs and auras.

Cons

Dependent on ES recharge (can be decreased by using Shavronne's Revelation).

Without Vaal Clarity ES will not recharge while casting.

Not the tankiest build in the game as we can't leech.

Bosses with powerful AoE spells can wipe out all your minions.

You'll be disappointed when playing with any other build.

Expensive if you want to do all content.

1.2. 1h+Shield vs +3 Bow

This build can be run with either a 1h+Shield, or with a +3 to socketed Fire gems bow & Soul Strike Quiver (a +3 staff is not recommended). Both alternatives are really good, and they come with their own pros and cons.

The 1h+shield build has two advantages over the bow build. These are that you'll be able to use Shield Charge or Whirling Blades for improved movability, and that you will have a higher survivability due to block and a higher ES. The bow setup is not without its defensive advantages though, as the 80% faster start if energy shield recharge gained from Soul Strike is really nice.

If you are uncertain of which setup you want to run, ask yourself the following questions:

Do you want to have better defences? Then I recommend the 1h+shield setup.

Are you primarily going to play in a party with a Magic find setup? Go for the 1h+shield for the movability.

Are you aiming to do all content or maximizing solo damage? Go for the +3 bow setup.

1.3. Playstyle

This build is a high clear speed build where you cast a few SRS, move, Cast a few srs, and aim to get the "rolling wave" of spirits that you can see in the gif at the beginning of the guide. A major benefit from using SRS is that we don't need to chase after mobs, the spirits will spread out to seek and destroy all nearby mobs. Tropical Island is pretty awesome for us, as we just run along the middle and only need to go to the sides in order to pick up loot.

The build relies to some extent on Vaal Skills for clear speed and survivability, which leaves us in a small disadvantage when entering a new zone/map. The regen isn't usually a problem as we get a lot of Life regen from our Stone Golem and our helmet enchantment, but without Vaal Clarity you'll be a bit starved when using Vaal Haste. With the level 20 Stone Golem you have additional 105 Life Regen per second, and the +150% Stone Golem Buff effectiveness head enchantment makes that go a long way.

The 150% Effectiveness enchant is not required for regular mapping, as most bosses will melt before the Vaal Clarity ends. However, if you are doing Labyrinth, Guardians, Shaper, Atziri, or any encounter that is longer or where you can't get souls for your Vaal Skills, then you are more or less required to use this particular helmet enchantment.

1.4. Why party members love you

By running 8 auras and 3 vaal auras it comes as no surprise that you will greatly buff the entire party. The list below shows you how much your allies and your minions will benefit from level 20 auras (Hatred, Anger, Wrath, Grace, Haste, Discipline, Purity of Elements, Clarity). If you are using the United in Dream sword then you'll provide even more damage to your party as you will replace Purity of Elements with Envy.

Note that the figures in parentheses are with all 3 vaal auras active.Damage

Note: Since Hatred, Wrath & Anger is not affecting you (as they're linked with Generosity), you will not benefit from the Commander of Darkness bonuses associated with those three auras. Your minions and party members will however utilise the full benefit. See this post for explanation.

Regular Auras
66% Increased effect of Auras, applies on the AS/CS of Commander of Darkness as well.

The reason why you would like to run culling while in a party because of that your 300%+ increased item rarity is only applied to your own or your minions killing blows. With Culling strike this happens when the mobs have 10% hp left (i.e. 10%+ more damage), which makes it a lot easier for you or your minions to last hit the mobs. Even if you are not running MF is Culling Strike a very powerful gem, providing you with +10% Cast speed and your minions +38% increased damage and +10% increased attack speed.

1.6. The origin of this guide

While browsing through builds on the forum in preparation for the 2.4. Essence league, I found WarmWaffles SRS Auramancer LL build and realised that I really liked the build. Unfortunately I thought that it left out certain parts; such as how to level with it. Thus, in preparation of my own char I began to write down how I would level with it, along with notes on various other things I came to think about. In the end my notes grew quite comprehensive, so I decided to turn them into a fully fledged guide.

A lot of support & MF builds out there can be hard to understand, especially for newer and casual PoE players, as they take too much for granted. Even if this build isn't a build I would recommend to a new PoE player, I decided that if I am going to turn my notes into a guide I would make the guide comprehensive enough even for newer players (and truth be told, I was bored and it gave me something to do pre 2.4).

There are several possible paths to go for when aiming for 100, but this will probably be what I will use Level 100 Tree

2.1. Ascendancy - Necromancer

The choice of ascendancy class is a simple one. The Necromancer. Not only does it give you good passive stats, but while running 8 auras it will give the entire party 66.4% attack/cast speed, 132.8% increased damage (even more if you can get a Head Hunter, or while your Vaal Auras are active), and +20% elemental res.

Ascendency Skills
While leveling, pick the Ascendancy skills in the following order.

Beacon of Corruption is good as it helps us with Chaos res (something that can be quite hard to find on good gear) and the caustic clouds do give a bit of extra damage. If you don't want the Chaos resist then you can go for the two minor nodes instead.

Note: CoD can be picked up in labyrinth normal if you prefer it. However. I find that leveling is faster with MoS, just make sure to have Desecrate equipped for a readily supply of corpses.

Passive Stats:

30% Skill effect duration

90-105% Minion Damage

8% Cast speed

From Flesh Offering:

30% Cast speed

29% Movement Speed

Commander of Darkness
With 8 auras CoD gives your allies

43% cast/attack Speed.

30% increased damage.

+20% to all Elemental Resistances.

Note: As you are not affected by the three auras linked with Generosity, you will only gain about 30% cast speed from CoD.

2.2. Leveling & Skill Tree Options

Pathing through the middle of the skill tree vs far left

Atm Inc. Duration is very powerful for the build as it helps with vaal skill and srs uptime. So even if some would say that all the inc duration nodes are not needed any more, I'd still advocate to get them all as they still have a lot of really good benefits.

While evasion isn't the most reliable source of defence, it has saved my life quite a few times. By going through the evasion tree and then picking up Sentinel you get 84% inc evasion, and then you'll get another ~30% from your dex. This efficiently doubles the amount of evasion you'll get from the Grace aura, landing you on around 50% chance to evade. If you are not interested in picking up both increased duration clusters then you can save a few points by pathing through the far left side of the tree instead of through the middle.

Comparing the far left path with the current through the middle path, still picking up Champion of the cause:

What can you get from the 7 saved points? pretty much earlier access to 3x jewel sockets, and on level 99 you'll have 9 jewel slots in total instead of 7.

+14% Increased ES

+22% inc minion damage

some stats/res/as/cs

The choice is between the increased duration and evasion vs 2 extra jewel sockets. I'm a proponent for the increased duration, but the extra minion damage you can get from the jewels is pretty nice as well.

With the changes to SRS done in 2.5. you can level with SRS from level 8 when you get Melee Splash. At 24 you can buy a Reverberation Rod and link it with SRS + Minion Dmg + Melee Splash. If you are unable to get a Reverberation Rod then I recommend to at least get a 4L and use SRS + Melee Splash + Minion Dmg + Faster Casting (replace once you can keep 20 minions up without it)

If you are using a Tabula for leveling, then I can recommend the following setup:

If you are using a Nycta's Lantern use SRS + Melee Splash + Minion Damage.

Using Raise Zombies while leveling may be of some help, as they can act as meat shields and give you a small damage boost. Link Raise Zombies + Minion Damage + Melee Splash + Minion Life / Melee Physical Damage.

Buy a Vaal Clarity as soon as you can, getting it early on will make your life so much easier as SRS is quite mana hungry even while leveling.

If you do not want to level with SRS for some reason, then just go for any spell that you like. If you do not have a Tabula or Lifesprig, then get a "+1 to level of cold/fire gems in this item" wand/sceptre while leveling. It can be acquired by vendoring a magic wand/sceptre + 1 orb of alteration + 1 sapphire/ruby ring.

It is a good idea to pick up the +30 dex/str nodes while leveling. They won't be required in the final tree, but they help a long way with the skill gem attribute requirements.

The path you go from here and on depends on if you have access to a Shavronne's Wrappings / Solaris Lorica or not, and if you want to start gearing for ES or not. If you don't have a lot of ES items, keep going with the Life based skill tree. As we only have picked up 77% increased maximum life you will not be tanky at this point, play carefully and don't get mad if you die a few times - you'll get that XP back in no time.

104 points - Life base hybrid (Hopefully you've already respecced into a ES based version, but if you've been unlucky with loot keep on going and prepare for the ES swap)

If you have a Shavronne's Wrappings or Solaris Lorica, and ES gear, you can now respec into full ES. You can chose if you want to use a Prism Guardian and slowly work your way to the Blood Magic cluster, or you can respec some additional points and use the Low Life Tree. Alternatively you can be a bit ballsy and go Low Life without Shavronne's or Solaris Lorica, and use the Coruscating Elixir. With it's 2.6. 100% Increased Duration buff it should actually be viable.

From this point you can look at the finished 113 point skill tree. You should have Elemental Equilibrium, the Aura cluster below the Duelist, possibly some jewel sockets, and the ES recharge cluster Essence Drain to pick up. Don't forget the 6% Aura effectiveness in the Sovereignty Cluster (top left part of tree).

2.2.1. Leveling Items

There is a lot of different items that can be very useful while leveling. Here I will list some of the items that I can use while leveling. Some of the items here will be cheap, while other are more expensive. If you feel that some of the items are too expensive for your current budget, skip them. You should be able to level smoothly without them. The list is quite general, and you should be able to use most of it for other builds as well.

Helmets

If none of the unique helmets are to your taste, then a 4-Linked +1 to level of socketed minion helmet is great for leveling.

If you do not have a Tabula or Lifesprig early on, then get a 3L "+1 to level of fire gems in this item" wand/sceptre to put the SRS gem in. You can get one by vendoring a magic wand/sceptre + 1 orb of alteration + ruby ring. Don't forget to use a orb of augmentation on it afterwards.

Below you will find when and where you can pick up the various gems we use, and which you will need to trade for. While leveling you probably do not have room to level with all the gems. Just pick them up in the corresponding act on merciless when you do.

With 3.0. you can now buy all skill gems that's not drop exclusive (Empower/Enlighten) in Act 6. This means that we will be able to buy Anger, Grace, Haste, and Increased Duration from Lilly instead of having to trade for them.

(A3) Lost in Love: Purity of Elements | Pick up Discipline+Hatred+Wrath

(A4) Breaking the Seal: Summon Stone golem

(A4) The Eternal Nightmare: Spell Echo / Multistrike

(A8) Essence of the Hag: Conqueror's Efficiency

Trade/Drop

The following gems are gems you will be required to trade for or get as a drop.

Increased Duration (available at Lilly in Act 6)

Anger (available at Lilly in Act 6)

Grace (available at Lilly in Act 6)

Haste (available at Lilly in Act 6)

Vaal Clarity

Vaal Haste

Vaal Discipline

Empower

2.2.3. Which Gems to level with

I recommend that you early on get 2 wands or 1 wand & 1 energy shield for your weapon swap slots where you can level 6x SRS gems (in addition to the one you play with). In the beginning of a league there's usually no level 20 quality 20 gems to buy, or they are too expensive. So what we do is to level gems in our weapon swaps. When they reach level 20 you can either sell them to a vendor together with a GCP to get a level 1 quality 20 gem, or use a vaal orb and on them and potentially get a level 21 gem. I strongly recommend to level your SRS gems to 20/20 before using a vaal orb on them, as the quality improves our clear speed.

While you can be lucky and corrupt a 20/20 gem into a 21/20 on your first try, I doubt that'll happen for most people. In 2.4. I managed to level up 18 SRS gems to 20/20, and not a single one of them was corrupted into a 21/20. It took me another 12 SRS gems before I managed to corrupt my first SRS gem to 21/20, so I was pretty unlucky when doing this. Basically you level as many as you can and if you would be extremely lucky to get more than one 21/20 gem, you will probably be able to sell the extra for a few Exalts.

If you are starting a new SRS character in a league that already has been running for a while, I strongly recommend you to buy a 20/20 SRS gem when you reach level 70. The corrupted level 20 quality 20 gems are usually sold for 5-10c after a week or two, and they will be a huge damage increase for you at level 70.

If you have free sockets in your gear while leveling, you can put in any of the skill & support gems that we use in the final build there. Here is what I'd recommend to focus on.

SRS, Summon Stone Golem, Hatred. These three gems should always be in use, with as many of the support gems from the final build as you have links for.

NOTE: Always run Hatred, Wrath, Anger, and Envy (if using United in Dream) linked with Generosity. Generosity provides a huge boost for your minions, and party members, damage.

2.3. Starting a League with this build

The 3.0. changes has made it harder to play this build as a league starter, but it should still be doable. To make sure you've enough ES when you start mapping I'd probably go for a 5L ES chest and use Coruscating Elixir, instead of going for the Solaris Lorica.

I have used this build as a league started twice and in neither of them did I manage to get an early 5L Solaris Lorica, and I decided to run the maps with hybrid gear. If you can find a cheap Jeweler's Touch prophecy you can easily 5L your Solaris, which in retrospect is probably what I should've done. Starting maps I had around 1.5k life and 2-3k ES (before I got my shavs in 2.5. I was at level 85+ and had around 2k life and 5k es). It is not a lot but it got me mapping, and with a cheap 5L chest you can clear low tier maps quite decently. Keep on farming maps until you can afford the Shavronne's, and try to have life, ES, and some Chaos Resistance on your gear or you might find yourself 1 shot to chaos damage. The major drawback with running a hybrid is that we can't use the Blood Magic passive, along with Mortal Conviction. Thus our damage is nerfed as you are only running Hatred + Haste + Discipline (and possible 1 other aura if you can manage it). Still, I have been running up to t10 maps as a hybrid. It is just slower compared to what we can do with the Shavronne's or Solaris.

If this isn't your league starter I strongly recommend saving for a 5L Solaris Lorica before starting, so you can utilize all your auras.

Note: It should be possible to use a Coruscating Elixir instead of a Solaris Lorica up until you have the Shavronne's. It is not as reliable as the Solaris Lorica, but it should be a good option if you have another 5L and do not want to get a Solaris.

There are several different setups that you can go with when playing the SRS LL Auramancer, all good with their respective pros and cons. In this section I'll present 5 complete setups with their gear, gems & links. All of them are viable for T16 maps, and I have cleared all current content in 2.5. with the United in Dream Damage Setup. If you are interested in a mana based version with an alternative skill tree, then you can find one at section 4.4.

After the 4 setups you can find useful info on what to look for while crafting or buying your gear. You can also find tips for alternative (cheaper) uniques that you can use while gearing your character.

4.1. Magic Find setup

Let's start with the setup that I started off this build with, the MF version.

4.1.1. Gear used in 2.4. Essence

You might notice that I haven't crafted the helmet with a Screaming Essence of Loathing for the -3% Reduced mana reserved. Because of this I was only able to run 7 Auras with this gear. I do strongly recommend that you do craft your own helmet with the Screaming Essence of Loathing, so you can use all 8 Auras.

This gear is from pre 2.5. Breach league and items such as United in Dream nor Presence of Chayula did exist back then. If you run MF today I strongly recommend you to get those two items and using Envy instead of a Purity.

Additionally, I've changed the gem setup since playing with this gear, so look at the Gems & Links section for the current setup.

If you are using this setup and a running Lab or doing hard encounters, then I can recommend swapping out the Ventor's rings and Wondertrap for more ES and higher MS.

Defensive Stats from Essence League

Item Quantity & Rarity from Essence League

In 2.4. I was using Culling Strike and Item Rarity on my Zombies & Stone Golem, which is the reason why that is what's shown in the screenshot. The figures are still be valid for the MF SRS setup.

If you are having damage problems on bosses replace Melee Splash with Elemental Damage with Attacks or Multistrike (if you can support it's mana multiplier), in fights with adds this isn't recommended.

Boots/Helmet/Gloves/Shield/Weapon
Note: For the easiest coloring: put the combination with most off colours (red & green gems) in your Wondertrap boots.

Credits goes to Kingolo for working out the first version of this setup.

This setup is a bit different from the other ones, as you'll be using a +3 Crude Bow (Crude Bow because it's the easiest bow to get off colours with). This enables us to increase our damage by increasing the level of the SRS gem. The drawback being that we cannot use a shield or Shield Charge/Whirling Blades. Additionally you will be using 9 Auras with this setup. Here's a link to the aura calculator: https://poe.mikelat.com/#WKi8lfg/tr.f_/xB3l.EQeb/xB3l.iq

IMPORTANT: DO NOT USE ANY OTHER BOW THAN THE CRUDE BOW. IT'LL BE HARD ENOUGH TO GET THE CORRECT COLOURS AS IT IS, NO NEED TO MAKE IT HARDER.

If you have no issues with resists and want a more offensive setup and don't mind self casting a curse, remove one Purity and use that gem socket for Elemental Weakness. Alternatively if you want a lazy mode setup, then replace the two Purities with Blasphemy + Elemental Weakness.

Another good way to increase your damage is to pick up Elemental Equilibrium and have an item that gives you +lightning damage to attacks, when your "clone" from Blink Arrow hits the target it'll apply Elemental Equilibrium to the target and lower its Fire and Cold resists (which the majority of the spirits damage consists of).

4.4. Mana based setup

Pros

If you manage to get enough ES it should be better suited for hard encounters.

Instead of going down to the Duelist & Marauder this setup spec into increased mana, mana regen, life regen, Zealoth's Oath, and Mind over Matter. If MoM doesn't work out for you, you can remove those points and pick up the Primal Spirit notable at the ranger instead.

Note that I've used a lvl 4 enlighten, a lvl 3 enlighten, a lvl 21 blood magic, Prism Guardian, and a 5% reduced mana reserved helmet. If you don't have United in Dream and thus not Envy, then replace it with a Purity and you'll not be required to get the level 4 enlighten.

From the level 20 Clarity and our skill tree we'll end up with roughly 1500 mana and 135 mana/second. It is a decent amount but not enough. To get it to work we'll 60-69% increased mana regen on two rings, and increase our mana by stacking Intelligence & Mana on all items where it is possible. Mana potions could possibly be used as a substitute for the increased mana regen rings.

Granite / Life flask (Granite provides some extra defences, but I often use a Life flask instead to ensure that I always can resummon the Stone Golem.)

I also get a combination of remove freeze, remove bleeding, remove poison, and remove burning on the four non-unique flasks.

The flask setup is up for you to decide as it is highly situational, any combination of flasks from the list below will work well for you.

1x Life Flask, to be able to cast Stone Golem if it dies and you lack regen.

Witchfire Brew Stibnite Flask

Kiara's Determination Silver Flask

Experimenter's Quicksilver of Adrenaline/Staunching/Heat

Experimenter's/Chemist's/Perpetual Basalt Flask of ...

Experimenter's/Chemist's/Perpetual Jade Flask of ...

Experimenter's/Chemist's/Perpetual Granite Flask of ...

Experimenter's/Chemist's/Perpetual Topaz of Grounding

Experimenter's/Chemist's/Perpetual Ruby of Dousing

Experimenter's/Chemist's/Perpetual Amethyst of Curing

Experimenter's/Chemist's/Perpetual Bismuth of ...

Experimenter's/Chemist's/Perpetual Silver of ...

Vessel of Vinktar Topaz Flask

Rumi's Concoction Granite Flask

Kiara's Determination enables you to drop Eye of Chayula if you want, and go for a good rare gold amulet instead. With the Onslaught, Stun immunity, Curse, Freeze immunity, and Chill immunity it is a really good flask for us, the only downside being its short duration. Even if it is good I do recommend to go with Eye/Presence of Chayula.

Feel Free to try out Vessel of Vinktar for even more damage & support in situations where you stay relatively close to the mobs/boss.

For the remainder of flask slots I use a Quicksilver flask and a combination of resistance or defensive flasks, such as Rumi's Concoction/Basalt flask/Stibnite/Jade flask, depending on what I need for the moment. Experiment and find out what you like.

Note: As we are trying to keep Vaal Clarity up at all times we will not be spending any life or mana, leaving us unable to use Divination Distillate for its extra IIQ/IIR.

4.6. Auras

This build picks up every aura node in the passive skill tree. In combination with the Necromancer ascendancy it gives us:

66% increased effect of Non-curse Auras you cast.

78% increased radius of Aura skills.

50% less Mana Reserved.

38% reduced Mana Reserved.

Auras you Cast grant 3% increased Attack and Cast Speed to you and Allies.

You and Allies affected by your Auras have +30% increased Damage.

You and Allies affected by your Auras have +20% to all Elemental Resistances.

Unless the gem setup suggest differently, then I recommend going with 8 Auras and craft a helmet with a Screaming Essence of Loathing to get the -3% Mana Reserved affix. This is required if you want to run 8 auras without a reduced reservation head enchantment (an enchantment that you don't really want to go with as the stone golem buff effectiveness is too nice to lose)

Bear in mind that this is only a rough ranking of the current support gems. If you want to check how good they are in relation to each other then you can sort gems according to dps in Path of Building.

Tier 4: Faster Attacks, Melee Phys on Full Life (great damage, but unreliable), Void Manipulation (only if use in combination with the United in Dream sword)

4.8.2. Which gems should be prioritised for quality and level 21?

The only high priority gem for 20% quality and level 21 is SRS itself. I recommend the 20% quality prior to corrupting as the increased spirit movement speed increases your clear speed (they'll reach their targets faster). However, going for a level 21 SRS gem straight ahead is by no means a bad option.

If you are not planning to play much in a party then you can ignore quality on auras. Personally I go with 20% quality on all my skill & support gems and then see if I can get any lucky corruptions. The two exception I would think of considering is Discipline and the level 20 Stone Golem, as the extra life from the quality isn't that important for us and dropping the gems to level 1 will seriously hurt our ES and life regen for a while.

The following gear sections were written with the MF setup in mind, but I've tried to edit it to include all setups. Most of it should thus be applicable to all setups, but the exact figures can be off as we are using different items in the different setups.

4.9. Gear Requirements, Gear Optimisation, and what to look for

In this build we a using 5 unique items, this leaves us with 5 item slots plus rare jewels to cover our attribute requirements, and get us resistance capped in Elemental Weakness maps. For resistance cap inside a elemental weakness map we need +169% to all res, and +209% if you want to be capped when affected by Elemental Weakness and Conductivity/Flammability/Frostbite. I'll use +209% in these calculations, which is probably more than most people will go with, but it is what you should be aiming for when optimising your gear.

Purity of Elements plus and Commander of Darkness gives us +64% to all Elemental resistances.

With the level 100 skill tree we get +10% fire, +28% cold, and +28% lightning, and with the auras +64% we have the following left to cover:

High ES rare helmet. I recommend you to buy a ilvl 84+ Hubris Circlet with a 150% Increased effect of the buff granted by your stone golems enchant on it, then use Essence of Loathing to craft on it, the 3-5% Mana reserved reduction beats a 15/20% head enchant.

Required Prefixes:

#% Increased Energy Shield

+# Energy Shield

Luxury Prefixes:

#% Increased Rarity of Items Found

+# to Level of Socketed Minion Gems (if you get this prefix, you should socket Summon Stone Golem & Flesh Offering in your helmet)

#% Increased Energy Shield / #% Increased Stun Recovery

Suffixes:

#% Reduced Mana Reserved (Crafted with Essences of Loathing)

+# Intelligence

+% Resistance

#% Increased Rarity of Items Found

4.9.3. Body Armour

If you cannot afford the Shavronne's Wrappings, you can opt for the Solaris Lorica until you can procure a Shavronne's.

One of these two items is a requirement if you want to passively survive chaos damage.

You can also go for a Rare ES chest in combination with a Coruscating Elixir. This option can get you quite a bit more ES, but if you can't keep the flask up while mapping then you'll instantly die as soon as you encounter chaos damage.

4.8.4. Gloves

High ES rare gloves.

Required Prefixes:

#% Increased Energy Shield

+# Energy Shield

Luxury Prefixes:

#% Increased Rarity of Items Found

#% Increased Energy Shield / #% Increased Stun Recovery

Suffixes:

+# Intelligence

+% Resistance

#% Increased Rarity of Items Found

#% Dexterity (if you have less than 155 DEX)

If you are unable to find a pair with IIR, try to get a pair with an open prefix and craft 10-15% increased minion damage (Catarina level 4).

4.9.5. Boots

When you are running low life and going for MF you should be using Wonder Trap. Look for a pair with +16 to maximum Energy Shield and +10 Dexterity, then go for Intelligence > Strength.

For killing hard bosses I can recommend Steppan Eard. It's a high ES high MS boots that you can buy quite cheaply.

Another pair of good unique boots to use are the Shavronne's Gambit, as they give 2% ES regen. Unfortunately they're quite lacking in everything else.

If you are using Rare Boots:Required Prefixes:

#% Increased Energy Shield

+# Energy Shield

Luxury Prefixes:

#% Increased Movement Speed

#% Increased Rarity of Items Found

#% Increased Energy Shield / #% Increased Stun Recovery

Suffixes:

+# Intelligence

+% Resistance

#% Increased Rarity of Items Found

# Life Regenerated Per Second

4.9.6. Weapon

Get one of the following depending on which setup you're using:

Ephemeral Edge (50% increased Maximum Energy Shield).

United in Dream (Breach Unique).

+3 to socketed fire gems Crude Bow.

Nycta's Lantern (if you don't have a 5L this weapon is an quite good option)

IMPORTANT: DO NOT USE ANY OTHER BOW THAN THE CRUDE BOW. IT'LL BE HARD ENOUGH TO GET THE CORRECT COLOURS AS IT IS, NO NEED TO MAKE IT HARDER. On average you need 864 chromatics for a crude bow compared to 1584 for a short bow.

4.9.7. Shield

I strongly recommend a shield with as much ES as possible. A 300+ es shield should be easily obtained, further on it should be upgraded to a 500+ ES shield. Intelligence and Resistances are the secondary stats you should look for on the shield.

Required Prefixes:

#% Increased Energy Shield

+# Energy Shield

Luxury Prefixes:

#% Increased Energy Shield / #% Increased Stun Recovery

Suffixes:

+# Intelligence

+% Resistance

+# All Attributes (Haku lvl 6)

# Life Regenerated Per Second

4.9.8. Accessories

Rings

If you are running the MF setup go for Ventor's Gamble if it has decent rolls. A lower rolled IIQ/IIR (~5%/~25%) Ventor's Gamble with resistances can be used while gearing. As a goal I recommend 2x Ventor's, so you can get +chaos resistance on your other gear. If you can't afford Ventor's Gamble, you can go for Andvarius or a decent 40%+ item rarity rare ring.

For killing bosses you can swap the unique rings for 2 rings with high +ES & %ES rolls. See gear used under the different setups for examples.

For all the other setups a Shavronne's Revelation is recommended.
For the rare Unset ring used in some of the setups, look for the following:Required Prefixes:

+# Energy Shield

Luxury Prefixes:

# to Level of Socketed Gems
[li]#% Increased Rarity of Items Found

#% Evasion

# to Maximum Life

+# lightning damage to attacks

Suffixes:

+% Increased Minion Speed (Crafted with Essence of Fear)

+# Intelligence

+# Dexterity

+# All Attributes

+% Resistance

+% Cast Speed

+% Increased Rarity of Items Found

[spoiler="Amulet"]
For necklace you have two options. I strongly recommend the Eye of Chayula (or Presence of Chayula if it's available) for its quality of life, but if you are using Kiara's Determination you can go for a Gold Amulet with 30+ IIR, flat +ES and %ES, resistances (and DEX if needed).

Required Prefixes:

+# Energy Shield

#% Increased Energy Shield

Luxury Prefixes:

#% Increased Rarity of Items Found

#% Evasion

Suffixes:

+# Intelligence

+# Dexterity

+# All Attributes

+% Resistance

+% Cast Speed

+% Increased Rarity of Items Found

[spoiler="Belt"]
The BIS item is Headhunter. Unfortunately it is not an item many of us can hope to acquire.
[spoiler="Headhunter can be ridiculous at times"]

Bated Breath is most likely the 2nd best unique belt for the build, and with its increased ES recharge it can actually be better than Headhunter in situations where you don't benefit from the HH buffs. A possible problem here is that if you are reliant on the dexterity from HH you'll need to swap a ring as well.

If you need resistances you should be looking for is a Crystal Belt with 40+ ES and tri RES. If possible you can also mastercraft increased movement speed with a level 6 Tora. If you do not want to worry as much about being frozen while mapping, and you have the resistances for it, then you can always give the Auxium a try.

While leveling is the Perandus Blazon a good option as it has up to +30 to all Attributes.

Energy From Within (not recommended if you got Presence of Chayula, get a good rare instead)

[/spoiler]
[/spoiler]
[spoiler="4.9.10. Base items introduced in 2.4 Atlas of Worlds"]Bone Helmet
The Bone Helmet's 40% increased minion damage is perhaps looking inviting at a first glance. However, as Qarl clarified it is an either/or for the new items' implicit modifier and labyrinth enchantments/corruption mods. Hence, as we can't combine it with the mana reservation reduction enchantment, it is a no go for us. Furthermore, its ES is on the low side either way.

Crystal Belt
Yes please! Easy 50+ extra ES compared to Chain Belt.

Fingerless Silk Gloves
Less ES than Sorcerer Gloves, and we do not benefit from spell power; not worth crafting on.
[/spoiler]
[/spoiler]
[spoiler="4.10. Enchantments"]
[spoiler="4.10.1. Gloves"]
There is two glove enchantments that are of interest for us. X of the Grave increases our damage while X of Spite is in my opinion a good defensive glove enchantment.

Commandment of the Grave - Summons three icy skull minions that explode at the end of their duration.

Commandment of Spite - Releases a nova of projectiles based on your weapon, leaving chilling ground in their wake.

[/spoiler]
[spoiler="4.10.2. Boots"]
The increased movement speed is without doubt the best boot enchantment as it helps with clear speed and with avoiding stuff. The other 4 enchantments help us a bit, but you should always aim for the movement speed one.

[/spoiler]
[spoiler="4.10.3. Helmet"]
Get 150% increased Effect of the Buff granted by your Stone Golems. It's the best QoL you can get. You'll only be able to run 8 auras, but this enchantment is golden for your life regen while Vaal Clarity isn't up. This enchantment is also a requirement for Shaper and Über Atziri.

[spoiler="Reduced Mana Reservation"]

15% reduced Grace Mana Reservation.

15% reduced Haste Mana Reservation.

15% reduced Hatred Mana Reservation.

15% reduced Wrath Mana Reservation.

15% reduced Anger Mana Reservation.

20% reduced Purity of Elements Mana Reservation.

Note: a 20% reduced for a 2nd Purity or Vitality can also be used, although you are then unable to exchange that aura when need arises.
[/spoiler]
[spoiler="Other Useful Enchantments"]

Step 1: Acquire an ilvl 84+ Hubris Circlet with the 150% Stone Golem buff effectiveness enchant. (if there are no ilvl 84+ hubris circlets available for a reasonable price, then any non-unique ES helmet with the enchant will work to begin with)
Step 2: Buy as many Screaming Essence of Loathing as you can afford.
Step 3: Scour the Hubris Circlet unless it is already white, use Armourers Scraps to get it to 20% Quality.
Step 4: Use a Screaming Essence of Loathing on the Hubris Circlet.
Step 5: Are the rolls good enough to use? (I'd aim for 200+ ES and one or more resists) In that case start using your newly crafted helmet.
Step 6: Acquire a 2nd ilvl 84+ Hubris Circlet with the 150% Stone Golem buff effectiveness enchant.
Step 7: Repeat Step 2 till Step 5, and use the helmet that has the best rolls.

If you want to drop the Conqueror's Efficiency, then you'll have to use Deafening Essences of Loathing while crafting. This isn't anything I can recommend for most people, but if you already got all the gear you want then you can achieve a minor dmg increase doing this and using another jewel.

Replace Vaal Haste with Desecrate, and unequip Vaal Clarity (you may swap in Raise Zombies if you would like), bring 1 Life potion.

For hard trap sessions, make sure that your Vaal Discipline is up and everything is childsplay.

If you want to do the first two Izaro phases without destroying anything, go to the top corner and your spirits should most of the time only target Izaro.

5.2.2. Shaper

Replace Vaal Haste with Desecrate, bring 1 Life potion.

Try to pop the Vortex balls at the edges of the Arena. If you by accident pop one in the middle, or at the locations where the Adds Portal spawn, then you'll have a really hard time completing the encounter.

When the adds portal spawn, position yourself between Zana and the portal. You will need to tank / distract the mobs long enough that they die, and so they do not attack Zana. Here is an excellent place to use the Witchfire Brew, as you'll increase the damage you deal, and reduce their accuracy. If you are using the Vessel of Vinktar or Vaal Lightning Traps, here's a good place for them as well. Just do not forget to keep an eye open for the Vortex balls, you don't want to get one of those at the portal.

Use the time when Zana has her bubble up to spawn a couple of Desecrate. Wait with recasting your Stone Golem until after the Shaper is done with his attacks, the golem has a tendency to run out of the bubble and die.

Keeping yourself mobile is key to the rest of the fight. I usually try to run around the Shaper in a circle, as that'll lets me avoid his attacks, and lets my minions attack him more or less in peace.

You only need to kill enough mobs in the Gauntlet (the long run to the "temple boss") to get your Vaal Skills up, and to keep your flasks full.

Unless there's an emergency, I'd save your Vaal Skills for the Adds Portals. If the portals go well or not are usually what decides if I can do the run deathless. If you have a lot of problems with your Stone Golem dying, you could try to bring 2x Vaal Clarity instead of the Vaal Discipline. I've never felt the need to do this myself, but I can see the logic in doing it.

5.2.3. Über Atziri

Replace Vaal Haste with Desecrate, bring 1 Life potion.
Double Vaals: Keep to the side and make sure that you only engage 1 of them. Spam SRS, and use Desecrate + Flesh Offering. The first Vaal should die quickly, then move to the 2nd one, and pop Vaal Discipline when it's up. The 2nd one should be dead before your Vaal Discipline runs out.

Equip Vaal Haste again.
Trio: Use Flesh Offering on bodies of slain monsters before you enter the arena. Go 2 tiles toward the middle. Cast 20 spirits, pop Vaal Clarity, Vaal Haste, and Vaal Discipline. Use your potions and charge the Titty bitch, your minions should hopefully focus on her. After this you just keep moving around the room. Get safe, cast SRS, move, Get safe, Cast SRS, move, and repeat until all three bosses are dead. You can use the bodies from the adds that spawn to keep Flesh Offering up.

Replace Vaal Haste with Desecrate again.
Bring 1 Life potion with Remove Bleeding.
Bring 2 additional flasks with Remove Bleeding (Quicksilver & Basalt/Jade recommended). Alternatively you can use the Death's Door boots as long as you stay capped in lightning and fire resistance.
Über Atziri: Go 2 tiles towards Atziri, spawn a couple of Desecrate, use Flesh Offering, Spawn 20 Spirits. Engage by running to the side. Atziri will likely target you with a flameblast in the beginning, and if you run straight towards her (which is what your minions will do) she'll cast it in front of her and wipe out all your minions. The rest of the fight is mainly about running around along the edges of the room and casting spirits when you're able. During the split Phases you should try to spawn 20 spirits near one of her images, just make sure that you're not standing there when they engage, as the flameblast will wipe out all your minions.

5.2.4. Hall of the Grandmasters

Replace Vaal Haste with Desecrate, bring 1 Life potion.
For the Hall of the Grandmasters you'll need to turn off an aura, because there's grandmasters in there with Culling Strike. So you need to make sure that you've at least 10% life unreserved (for some reason I thought Culling Strike was 35% when I recorded the video, so ignore that), I'd recommend turning off Anger or Wrath.

For the entire map: Spawn 20 minions close to the "engage line", use flesh offering. Engage the grandmasters away from your spirits, and then back off and let the spirits kill them all.

Apparently there is a few max block Aegis Grand Masters that's not possible to kill with SRS. If you encounter them you can try using a 6L Scorching Ray or Flame Blast.

5.3. Shaping & Sealing your Atlas

Deciding which maps to shape, and later on decide if you want to seal certain maps, are up to your own personal preferences. Yet here are some suggestions and general points to think about:

Shaping your Atlas
When deciding what map to use your Shaper's Orbs on you'll want to consider 3 things:

Is it a good (fast) map to clear?

Does any good divination cards drop there?

and is the map better than the other maps that's 5 tiers above it?

With these things in mind I would shape the following maps:

Tier 1: Jungle Valley.

Tier 2: Beach or Oasis.

Tier 3: Arid Lake.

Tier 4: Phantasmagoria.

Tier 5: Dunes.

Tier 6: Strand.

Tier 7: Mud Geyser.

Tier 8: Shore / Tropical Island / Atoll.

Tier 9: Promenade, Coves.

Tier 10: Quay / Underground River.

Note that I am not using all available Shaper's Orbs.

Sealing your Atlas
After you have completed everything that you want to complete on your map it can be a good idea to start sealing away maps with bad (slow) layouts. This can be done with Cartographer's Seals that you can acquire by vendoring 3x Cartographer's Sextant (Master for red maps, Journeyman for yellow, etc.), along with a Orb of Scouring. Upon reaching an endgame where I've unlocked the majority of the Atlas, I usually end up running only tier 11+ maps. Thus to increase my overall map clearspeed I seal quite a few maps to lower the chance that those "bad maps" drop, they'll still be able to drop if you're playing a map that's connected to it on the atlas. Going from t15 to t11 these are the maps that I seal:

Tier 15: Core, Overgrown Ruin.

Tier 14: Mineral Pools, Shrine, Maze, Palace.

Tier 13: Lair, Plaza, (possibly Scriptorium too, but I do like the divination cards from the boss).

By sealing these maps you'll lose 20% completion on the Atlas, but as you will only get good red maps it is a small sacrifice to make. You do have the option to seal a few more maps, or less, but I do like to have some variation while mapping.

There are other tactics on how to shape your Atlas, and if you are interested in other setups you'll most likely be able to find different ones by a simple google search.

Remember that you shouldn't run the maps again after you've sealed them, as you then will have wasted your Cartographer Seal. If you get map drops that's one of the ones you've sealed, sell them or use the 3x recipe to upgrade it.

5.4. Making Currency: Map fast, Map in bulk

Unless you are into flipping items on poe.trade, running services, or feeling lucky with crafting, then mapping and mapping A LOT is how you make your currency. Early on in the league you can also make a lot of currency by farming normal Atziri (or Über lab even if we're not the best lab runners).

One way of improving your map speed this is to roll your maps in bulk. While mapping I make sure to roll at least 4 maps before running them, but as you can see on the image below I usually roll quite a few.

What you want to do while mapping is to minimize your downtime. After all, all time spent not mapping is time spent without getting any loot! So what can you do to reduce your downtime?

Don't do any sales below 2-5c (at least not after you've started mapping). It's just not worth your time.

Unless you really want to do the sale right there and now, ask them to wait until you're done with the map.

Starting from Tier 7-11, always use orb of Alchemy on maps for increased Item Quantity, Pack size, and Item rarity. With this build you don't really care about the map mods, and you're happy for all the pack size & quantity that you can get.

Have a good stash tab management. It should go fast to sell, stash & list items when you're in your hideout.

If you are doing Chaos Recipes and have the stash tabs for it, have 1 stash tab for each item type and sell the items when you're waiting for stuff (or if all the tabs get full)

If you are interested in reading up more about how to farm currency, take a look at: carkasjak's [Guide] Efficient Currency Farming. I'm no fan of his 5c "price check" tab, but he has a lot of good points in the rest of the guide.

5.5. Your friends Global 820 & Trade 820

Global 820 channel initially was used for sharing and farming Forsaken Masters missions (820 because the Forsaken Masters patch was released on the 20th of August), and since then it has grown to include Trials and Challenges as well. So if you are looking for a specific trial, something you need for a challenge, or if you have a daily master mission and want to join a rotation group in order to level up your masters faster, join Global 820 and have a look around. There's usually quite a few people around there who takes time away from their mapping to help out. Thus if you do utilise 820 try to return the favour by helping out other ppl there when you're able.

Trade 820 is pretty much the same as Global 820, with the difference that you buy or sell the missions/trials/challenges/etc.

6.0. FAQ & Priorities (READ BEFORE POSTING)

6.1. Gear Priorities

When I start a new character with this build I usually go for the build items in the following order:
1. Ephemeral Edge. 48%+ on the ES roll (not expensive at all, so pick it up as soon as you can use it)
2. Eye of Chayula. The Stun Immunity can save you quite often, but make sure that you're mainly ES based if you're going to use it.
3. 5-link Shavronne's Wrappings / 5-link +2 Bow (or staff)
4. ilvl 84+ Hubris Circlet with 150% Stone Golem buff effectiveness helmet enchant. It will be needed when you get your 6-link.
5. 350+ ES Shield.
6. 150+ ES Gloves.
7. 100+ ES Crystal Belt.
8. 200+ ES Boots (no MS needed, if you are running MF then stick with Wondertrap).
9. Jewels with Minion Damage + other useful rolls (check gear section for details).
10. 6-link Shavronne's Wrappings or 6-link +3 bow.
11. Witchfire Brew.
12. United in Dream (if Breach items are available).
13. Presence of Chayula (if Breach items are available).
14. Shavronne's Revelation.
... Keep upgrading your rare items, including your Jewels.
999. Head Hunter. If you have the Presence of Chayula, then I'd aim for an uncorrupted version.

Is the build still viable in 3.0?
Yes. You will have less ES and damage than in 2.6 but it'll still be viable. It'll be harder to get a comfortable level of ES, yet you should still be able to do most if not all content with all the setups.

I can't use all 8 Auras, what's missing?
You have probably missed one of the following things:

One or more reduced mana nodes on the skill tree. There are 5 Aura clusters, 6 with the Blood Magic one, that should be allocated. All in all they should provide you with 38% reduced mana Reserved, and 50% less mana reserved. The most common two to miss are Champion of the Cause cluster below the Duelist start, and the Leadership cluster at the Scion start.

The Conqueror's Efficiency jewel. You get it as a quest reward in Merciless Act2 Crypt

A helmet crafted with Screaming Essence of Loathing. You'll need that extra 3% Reduced Mana reserved to be able to cast SRS without Vaal Clarity.

Why do you use a level 1 Clarity?
Our ascendancy point "Commander of Darkness" gives minions and players affected by our auras +damage, cast speed, and attack speed for each aura we are providing them. So the lvl 1 clarity is a cheap way for us to get another set of those bonuses.

Should I use Prism Guardian or a high ES shield?
My preference is to use a high ES shield instead of the Prism. The reasoning being that Prism only enables us to use 9 auras, unless we remove other gems and invest in multiple Enlighten gems, and that 1 extra aura isn't worth losing 500 ES.

Where do you get the extra Dexterity needed to reach 155 Dex
I usually go for a ring and a jewel or two to reach the required Dexterity. You can also get it on your gloves, helmet or via Headhunter. The +30 Dex nodes are very useful as well while leveling.

How do you recast your Stone Golem when it dies?
I've allocated the "Shaper" node, just left of the Scion start, to get the 1% life regen from it. This is usually enough to recast the Stone Golem when it dies. You can also bring a life potion with you so you always can get the life needed to recast it, this is what I usually do for Shaper, Über Atziri, and other hard encounters.

Should I go for IIR or IIQ?
Chuca79 did a study on IIQ & IIR that you can read if you want to know more about it. But here's a short TL;DR: 20 IIQ/280 IIR is quite a bit better than 40 IIQ / 180 IIR, when running a map with 80 IIQ and 30 IIR. Thus you should in most cases use Wondertrap instead of Goldwyrm (if you're only interested in increased currency drops go for the Goldwyrm, as currency drops is only affected by IIQ).

Why are you using the Evasion nodes near the Scion tree?
Because it is the shortest path to the Duration nodes located there and then down to the Blood Magic cluster & Duelist aura nodes. Additionally it gives us some more evasion from Grace.

How do you run No-regen maps?
Running a no-regen map is quite easy. Turn off 1 aura (I usually pick Wrath), bring 1 life potion, and use the life potion to cast SRS until your Vaal Clarity is up. When it is up, it's business as usual. As a sidenote. Even if we can run no-regen maps I usually reroll those maps as they can be annoying, but since we run all other mod combination it isn't much of a cost to reroll them ;)

Is the build hardcore viable?
Short answer: Yes it is HC viable even if it wasn't developed for it, you should be able to reach 8k+ ES with any of the build setups.

My Energy Shield isn't recharging while casting
This is why we use Vaal Clarity. Vaal Clarity reduces the mana cost of skills to 0. Thus we will not be spending any life while casting when Vaal Clarity is up and it will not interrupt the ES recharge.

Culling Strike vs Empower lvl 4
If you can't decide which one to use, think about the following things:

Am you playing MF? -> Culling Strike.

Are you often in a party? -> Culling Strike.

Using a +3 to socketed Fire Gems bow? -> Empower lvl 4.

Do you have 5-15ex to spare? -> Use Empower as swap gem for Melee Splash.

Always playing solo and have all other items that you need? -> Then a lvl 4 Empower might be slightly better, but I can't defend the 5-15ex investment for the small gain.

Do you have a +1 to socketed gems Shavronne's -> Empower lvl 4.

Why are you only running 3-5 auras in your videos?
I'm actually not. However, 3-4 of the auras are supported by Generosity and thus they don't affect me, hence they will not show at the top of the screen.

2017-07-21: Pre 3.0. update. new skill trees and gem setups not included

2017-05-09: Added a video guide along with some minor additions.

2017-03-02: First 2.6. Update. Improved leveling & added graphics.

2017-02-05: Added section 2.4. Experimental Mana Based Setup.

2017-02-01: Expanded the FAQ.

2017-01-24: Some smaller changes, additions, including a link to the Russian translation.

2017-01-11: Complete rework, new forum thread. Final edition for 2.5.

2016-12-08: Added 2.5 Gear, and a new video

2016-12-06: First 2.5 overhaul

2016-11-30: Added 2.5. preliminary changes.

2016-11-24: Added videos from all four Guardian maps.

2016-11-22: Tweaked my preferences throughout the guide in preparation of 2.5, and fixed some errors.

2016-10-23: Noticed that my update from the 17th was still only saved as a draft. Oh well. Here it is again.

2016-09-17: Added new videos, current gear, and updated some preferences

2016-09-01: Guide is posted.

Questions? Please check the FAQ first, and then post a comment in this thread if you can't find an answer there. I will usually answer within 24h. If you want me to check the gear on you character, please ensure that your character tab is not set to private.

I was wondering if this was viable for Labs and breaches by any chance.

As Hapseleg said, it's not the best lab runner even if you can run them pretty fast. Just make sure to only have Vaal Discipline equipped (i.e. take out Vaal Clarity & Vaal Haste), have CWDT+IC (helps with the dmg from some traps), and if you can afford the Shavronne's Reveleation it will help quite a bit.

Hey, thanks for the build I first started POE with a MF totem build and when the passive reset happened I looked for a build and found yours. Got to say it sucked right away till i reset my asendecy points and then it took off. I have a couple questions.

What would your chest skill setup be for MF with Rarity and Quanity? I play only standard.

Also I never have issues with health regen for summoning my SRS's so i went with the SRS dmg enchantment, is there some reason you use the stone golem enchantment am I missing something? When spam casting it even whith Vall haste my heath regens faster then I can spam....

I also completely dropped Vall clarity from my auras, I run solo 99.8% of the time and it just seemed to be a waste unless on a no-regen map which i re-roll anyway.

No issues with the build at all its fun its fast its the best MF build ive seen or played.

Just crossing my fingers that the new breach Cutlass is not stupid expensive when it comes to standard.

The gear I'm running, suggestions or improvements would be great.

MF

Damage

For jewels i have the Increase Vall skill duration by 20% some random minion dmg rare and scarificial harvest.

Also I never have issues with health regen for summoning my SRS's so i went with the SRS dmg enchantment, is there some reason you use the stone golem enchantment am I missing something? When spam casting it even whith Vall haste my heath regens faster then I can spam....

I agree and was going to ask the same thing. I have the 3% less mana reserved on my helm just so i can get an extra aura. The only thing preventing me from spamming SRS most times is my cast speed, boss fights with no mobbs to get flesh offering up.

I also completely dropped Vall clarity from my auras, I run solo 99.8% of the time and it just seemed to be a waste unless on a no-regen map which i re-roll aanyway

The thing is with Commander of Darkness ascendency the more auras you have the more damage your srs does, even if it is an aura that does you no good. That is why he mentions using a level 1 clarity to get another stack of 10% damage and attack speed for your minions.